Roy Keane has now jokingly given Erling Haaland an upgrade to ‘player of the championship’ following his previous assessment.
After Manchester City’s draw against Arsenal on March 31, Keane claimed the striker was “almost like a League Two player” after a poor performance.
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Haaland is considered one of the best players in the world considering he has scored 32 goals this season, so such a view has raised many eyebrows.
The Norwegian’s last goal for City saw him come off the bench in the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, a victory which showed his true quality in front of goal with clever touches and a cool finish.
Keane was on pundit duty for Sky Sports and after the match he was asked what level he thought Haaland’s overall game was at currently.
“Sounds a lot like a championship player,” he replied with a slight smirk, which made the studio laugh.
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Keane added: “No, goal-wise he’s absolutely incredible, he took about three or four touches there (before his goal), the defender is on his back foot.
“Yeah look, there’s no doubt he’s quality in terms of finishing, still brilliant. You look at the players coming off the bench, he’ll be frustrated and he’ll be bored.
“So when he comes in, he wants to impact the game, and when the game is stretched like that, you have people like (Kevin) De Bruyne, he makes them run.
“He’ll find you and then it’s just that little bit of acuity that he showed.”
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Haaland did not feature in City’s FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea and league win at Brighton, as he claimed to feel tired during their Champions League defeat to Real Madrid .
But he came back strong on Sunday to score a crucial goal that boosts their chances of winning a record fourth straight title.
The 23-year-old’s 32 goals this season have come in 40 appearances in all competitions for the three-time winners.
Haaland scored 52 times in the previous campaign and while that is a tally he is unlikely to match in recent games, his current tally is still impressive.
City sit second in the Premier League and one point behind leaders Arsenal, but have a game in hand against them with four to play.
Much of their success last season was down to Haaland’s incredible goalscoring form and he could be the difference once again in season one.
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